Lastly, but by no means leastly, friend of the blog number two, LS Mitchell, has created a fantasticly professional wee 40-min mix that he sent this way. Seriously, this mix sounds like an ace night out at the Cabaret Voltaire for me! I’d be winding down to bed usually by now but this mix has me doing the feet-tap, head-bob skank!
Here are my favourite songs of 2009. I seriously could have went into the hundreds on this one but I seriously cannot be holed. Besides this top 20 took me fecking ages. Enjoy!
20. Major Lazer – Pon De Floor
To me this song sounds like it should be released in 2015, it’s THAT ahead of its time. As it is, it ended up sending dancefloors into chaotic frenzies whenever it was played in 2009.
The first half of this song I imagine myself cycling along an old cobbled street Hovis-stylee, the sun hot on the back of my neck. The second half, the street turns into a grassy hill and I’m speeding down it, racing my giggling friends who all look like they’ve jumped out of a T-Mobile ad. I’m wearing GAP obvs.
Why did this song not blow-up chart-wise? I swear to god I was so sure Radio 1 would be playing the shit out this banger. Not Tiga’s fault – I blame marketing. WTF were they thinking. Such a catchy track with funny lyrics that should appeal to Joe Public. Fuck them, Tiga, it’s the sound of your talent.
First summer anthem of the list (well it’s my favourite season after all) and out of the stalls runs a fucking camel with a party hat. Yes Wilco are brilliant – I don’t even need to exlain why this song rocks my cocks.
There’s something missing on the album version of this song, hence why I’ve picked the 12″ Mix as my number 16 track of 2009. I love Javelin because all I can hear when I listen to them is potential.
15. Royksopp – The Girl And The Robot (Feat. Robyn)
One of the best pop songs of 2009. Robyn is absolutely stunning on this track. The melody sounds so familiar to me too but that’s how good Royksopp are I guess. Stop playing mind games on me, fuckers.
Hypnotic as hell, I think I played this song about 20 times in a row after the first listen. Starts to worm away at your conscious state after about 2-mins. Cracking remix.
The good bit doesn’t shimmy in until about 3-mins in but this song still makes me have the ‘YES feeling’. Sampling the Grateful Dead was a masterstroke. I’ve heard the song they pinched “What Would I Want? Sky” from and the lyrics are actually “Sky! Whoa, I walk“. My mind boggles at their talent.
Of the songs on this list, this song probably best summarises my life in 2009. I wasn’t a deadbeat (although I did try like hell), but I think the world was. Global recession, climate catastrophes and the death of MJ. Did we care? Did we fuck. We were deadbeats.
THE catchiest chorus of the year I swear I even heard the cast of Greggs the bakers singing this when I went in for a sausage roll. More than that though, this is a fucking fantastic song. What a nerve La Roux has to think she can sing “Bulleeeeeeeetproof” and get away with it. If only more songwriters had the confidence to extend a word like that.
“Ra Ra Ah Ah Ah, Roma Ro Ma Ma, Ga Ga Ooh La La” She’s a filthy bitch eh, but she’s only gone and nailed the pop single of the 2009 for me. People, we’re in the early (and extremely talented) stages of this bint’s career. Think Prince/Bowie/MJ. Cherish it while it lasts – she’ll soon be seen wearing nout but a merkin to the Grammys 2012, marrying Susan Boyle in 2016 and replacing compare the fucking meercat dot com in 2020. “Seemples Ro Ma Ma“. Or not.
If a dance floor ever needed to be quickly turned into a pit of writhing bits, tits & clits then just hit them with this. Out-doing most DJs this year in my opinion, Proxy had a cracking year for his original material as well as his remixes for other people. This Tiga remix is my favourite by a country mile. Proxy got what we need, babe.
This song is to blame/thank for one of the most euphoric moments of my life, followed by one of the most hungover days of my life – hence the blame. Yet I’d happily go through a week of hangovers just to experience the pure joy I felt when hearing Grum play this when I saw him a couple of months back.
Forget Lisztomania, lets bring it back to 1901. Why are there less remixes for this song compared to Lisztomania? I’ll tell you – because it’s hard to top perfection – and with a chorus made for kings who could possibly contemplate mashing this up!? Indie discos were lit up with the sound of Phoenix in 2009, and so they should have been.
“Fuck!” Duke Dumont, along with being a super duper talented DJ also shows to me that he’s got a sense of humour – and I love that. Chopping this song up so much that he’s basically diced potty-mouth Lily Allen into a million pieces and reassembled them – Transformers-stylee - into something bigger and better.
The final summer anthem on this list and one I feel would sound good sound-tracking the End Credits to my life. Just look at the cover of his ‘Well Known Pleasures’ EP. If the camera were to pan around 180-degrees, I imagine it would see a beach full of sun-kissed twenty-somethings dancing their hearts out listening to this song and it would be the best moment of their lives. Now how’s that for hyping a song?
One of the very first posts on Scottish Friction (back when I was still using blogspot – hi old fans!) was this song. Sounding like a bomb blast stuck on repeat, this track absolutely kills when I’ve heard it on the dancefloor. Absolute genius. Oh and p.s. Royksopp’s album should have probably got an honourable mention in SF’s Best Albums Of 2009.
Although it takes about a minute and a half to get into it the pay-off is worth it. Gloriously chopped up vocal samples slide alongside soul-beating bass notes. You won’t be disappointed. He should rename himself dub-steppenwolf. That’s not even funny. Definitely one to watch on 2010.
So much more complex than they make it sound (seriously, listen again), ‘Two Weeks’ blew me away when I first heard it – and it has held up to repeated listens amazingly. Plinking keys, angelic harmonies and drums that are out of this fucking world (that school bell smashing at the end makes me play air drums every time). This should be played to everyone.
1. Florence And The Machine – You Got The Love (The xx remix)
Yeah I know it’s a remix of a cover but it is by far the best version of this song. It’s comparable to when Bob Dylan said that Hendrix’s version of ’All Along The Watchtower’ was “Jimi’s song”. ‘You Got The Love’ now belongs to The xx as far as I’m concerned – they just perfected an already great song. The stuttery drums, the wayward bassline, the sexy interplay between the kids xx, and as if to add insult to injury they go and chop up Florence + The Arsehole’s vocals to buggery. If I was Candi Staton/Flo now I’d be howling in pain after getting my arse handed to me by a bunch of brilliant 20-year-olds.
It’s gonna be weird writing 2010 in the top left hand corner of my lab book but I’ll get over it. 2009 was a great year for music and is partly why I started this blog. Here (as promised) are my top albums of 2009.
11. Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
It took a while but Lady Gaga has a knack for a CHOON and she’s a very talented lady. Fair enough she cribs from the best pop songwriters (ABBA, Ace Of Base WTF haha) but I really can’t wait to see what she does next.
Look out Avalanches, Javelin are here to steal your throne while you’ve been away (for almost a fucking decade FML) making slick beats. Jamz & Jemz shows a lot of promise for these two crate-diggers.
I really like the sound of this record. There’s something very Haight-Ashbury about the whole thing. I just want to grow my hair long, then turn on, tune in and drop out.
2009 is the year Phoenix broke into the mainstream (fucking FINALLY!). I’ve been a fan ever since I agreed with Bill Murray’s character in Lost In Translation that the music (‘Too Young’) at the party he was at was great. Expert songwriters – I can’t praise Phoenix enough.
Criminally ignored (I think anyway), this album should have received a LOT more attention than it did. Junior Boys are quietly working away creating a niche for themselves producing fantastically solid dance music. A great earphones album.
This was my 2009 ‘summer’ album. Listening to it just reminds me of lying in the grass on a sunny evening, watching folk walk back from their work. I really like the direction Wilco are heading in.
If there’s one album that will define the whole ‘chillwave’ scene that sprouted in 2009 it’s Neon Indian’s childhood-memory-inducing, sounds-like-it-was-recorded-on-a-tape-cassette masterstroke ‘Psychic Chasms’.
One of the most original-sounding albums I must say I’ve encountered for aaages. Every song sounds nothing like the last. And any band that cribs from Nico’s version of ‘These Days‘ and does it with so much reverence gets my whole-hearted approval.
Slinking into 2009 – and completely stealing the show – the xx released arguably the best album this year. With such a distinctive sound and fantastic songs if I was a songwriter in 2009 I think I’d have to rethink my profession – or at least the way I think about writing music. So pared down, so stripped of bells and whistles, British music is in safe hands.
It really couldn’t have been anything else. Grizzly Bear stole my ♥ in 2009. I knew instantly the first time I heard it that it was going to be my favourite album of the year. I was a massive fan of Yellow House when it dropped back in 2006, but the boys completely out-stripped anything I thought was possible of them. People may remember Animal Collective as 2009′s standout, but in my opinion no one will write songs as consistently brilliant as these.
I’m telling you now, your new favourite artist is Javelin. They’re certainly mine. Feel like I’m beating a dead horse here but their album ‘Jamz N Jemz‘ is brilliant – one of my favourites released this year. If you’re wondering who they sound like, I’d pitch them as a mix of the crate-digging Avalanches plus the Sesame Street/childhood nostalgia of Go! Team and the summery warmth of Neon Indian. If you’re a fan of any of those 3, you’ll LOVE Javelin.
“You got an STD,
And now its stressin’ me,
Can i ask you a question please?
Whats going on underneath them jeans??
K to the muthafuckin R to the muthafuckin U to the E to the L – That’s KRUEL!
If wanna get with me thats cool,
But first you gotta know that I’m no fool”
Possibly my song of the summer.
At Home In The Sea makes me want to take up meditation just so I can imagine lying on a beach where this song is playing!
Well that’s it for another year. Tonight (I think) is officially the last night of the Edinburgh Festival. It’s been a fucking blast I tell ye! Not least for the total randomness of what you see walking down the street that, as an Edinburgh native, just seems normal.
Washed Out is Ernest Greene from Columbia, South Carolina. Really lo-fi, end-of-summer goodness that I’ve been liking lately. I hear he has an album out soon too.
I actually made this for a chill girl – but I like it so much I’ve decided to share it with you.
Runtime: 79 mins
Tracklist:-
1. One Tooth Henderson – Lucie Goes Up! (1:20)
2. Woolfy – Odyssey (4:17)
3. Neon Indian – Deadbeat Summer (4:02)
4. Wilco – You Never Know (4:21)
5. Javelin – Trick Bikes (0:10)
6. Javelin – Susie Cues (1:54)
7. Javelin – Play A Slow Jam (0:19)
8. Bibio – Lovers’ Carvings (3:54)
9. Darondo – Didn’t I (3:29)
10. Kid Sister – Life On TV (3:13)
11. Tiga – What You Need (The Proxy Remix) (3:30)
12. The Bloody Beetroots – Warp 1.9 (Feat. Steve Aoki) (3:22)
13. The Whitest Boy Alive – Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) (8:28)
14. Neon Indian – Terminally Chill (3:29)
15. Frankmusik – Confusion Girl (Don Diablo Loves To Slow Dance Remix) (5:04)
16. CSS – Rat Is Dead (Rage) (3:18)
17. It Hugs Back – Unaware (3.24)
18. Telekinesis! – Foreign Room (3:29)
19. The Hood Internet – Two Weeks Of Hip Hop (Dead Prez Vs. Grizzly Bear) (3:34)
20. M83 – Run Into Flowers (Midnight Fuck Remix By Jackson) (7:31)
21. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – Working My Way Back To You (3:04)
22. Little Joy – Don’t Watch Me Dancing (3:35)
23. Catty Catterson – Goodbye My Love (0:13)
I’ve been botally digging the work of Alan Palomo lately. First his excellent song ‘No Reasons‘ under his VEGA moniker. Now I found out he’s the one (well, him and a girl) behind the boards of Neon Indian. Wonder if he means Indian as in Gandhi or Indian as in Cherokee. Would be a bit weird to see a Neon Gandhi eh?! BANG. Their website says of them,
“…Neon Indian delivers equal parts synthetic nostalgia, dreampop lullabies, and grinding guitar noise to create something eerier than the sum of its parts…”
I wouldn’t even know where to start. It sounds quite vintage but really new at the same time, like someone’s just dusted down an old Cocteau Twins record, taken away lovely Liz Fraser‘s pipes, added a bit of Daft Punk, then mixed it with Air France/Aeroplane/That crew etc. Probably a really bad description but I don’t give a fuck. They don’t pay me to do this ken.
The internet is a fast moving beast, so the streaming MP3s that are posted may not work after a while due to them being taken down. And since I can't be arsed uploading them all again it's tough shite. I'll always post a link to a downloadable MP3 though. As always, if you like what you hear - away and buy it eh!
p.s. if I've put up a song you'd rather not see here then let me know, you can email me here
